Temp gauge fault and other niggles...

First technical post to the forum...woohoo!

I picked up my new acquisition last night, a fantastic, straight, solid 1986 110 Station Wagon. It's got a couple of little faults which I need to sort, and any advice is welcome.

Temp gauge-pretty much from startup the temp needle is buried in the red. Clearly there's nothing actually wrong with the temperature...it's actually running too cool at the mo as the viscount fan coupling has siezed. The engine is a 200Tdi from a Disco (which is a peach and pulled like a bloody train for the 75 mile trip home), and a friend says he thinks the temperature sender for the 200Tdi engine is different whether it's used in a Defender or a Disco. So in theory I might need a Defender sensor to send the right signal/voltage to the Defender gauge. The only other thing is that the vehicle is ex-RAF, and although it was never a 24v FFR, it's possible a 24V temp gauge may have made it's way onto the dash?

Indicator stalk-a bit fiddly. Need to wiggle it "just so" to get the indicators to flash properly. Is this a common fault and easy fix? DIY fixable or bin it and replace job?

Driver's internal door handle doesn't work. It's quite unusual as it has one piece doors with wind up windows, but old Series style external "lift" handles rather than push buttons. The internal door handle certainly makes the catch mechanism move a bit, but not enough to open the door. Discoveries do a similar party trick and it's an annoying little spring in the door mechanism that needs replacing.

Reversing light. It's fitted but there's no switch. Should this be on a manual switch like my old SIII, or is there a gearbox switch somewhere?

I appreciate I can investigate this myself, but if it's all "usual" stuff I'd rather get the parts first before I take the thing to bits!

Thanks in advance!

lots to answer there but all I'll say is get a proper mechanical temp gauge, about £30.00, Tim do them as do Durite - the original was unreliable, inaccurate rubbish when it was new! good luck

Steve Parker Landrover do the correct sender for disco 200 into one ten. Take the old one out before ringing them because there is two types of thread iirc.
Rev light switch is rear of gearbox.
Doors are standard for that year .
Wang the switch buy a new one.

Whatever you do don't get one from Paddocks. I went through three in three years until I bought the last one from Bearmach.

Cheers guys, great advice. For the temp gauge, I'll try a new sender unit first, I checked the old one (although it does look quite new...hmmm...) and it's the fine thread type. Process of elimination and all that...but it's less than a tenner so worth a punt.

Door...took the card off and loads of stuff wasn't as it should be...a quick adjustment on the rod and I can now get out without winding the window down!

Never got as far as the other stuff, although did give it a good hoover inside, remove the one single mudflap, and also sort out the viscous fan. What a total PITA getting that off. The "special" viscous fan spanner just started to round off, so I managed to drop the actual fan off and move it to the space between the viscous coupling and the water pump. With a small ratchet strap keeping the drive belt under sufficient tension that the pulley didn't slip, a lot of plusgas, a lot of swearing, a proper spanner and a proper hammer, it finally went. And yes I'd watched the YouTube vids first so I knew it was a LH thread!

Indicator stalk and u/s fan tomorrow. Oh joy...electrics. I bloody hate electrics. I've never had any luck whatsoever with a hammer and swearing on electrics...

Doors are standard for that wge my 90 is same year, lift up handles.

Have had that fault a couple of times, last time door wouldnt shut with the window right up, window halfway down shut fine, then when the window was wound up it opened the door.

There is a bar across middle of the door with two bolts in it, if they come loose or the bar bends then it has an odd effect, lots of bits in the door to meddle with if it plays up.

Any problems give me a shout and i will take some pics of mine to help if needed

I have similar doors - next time you have the door card off, check the condition of the window channels both the ones it sits in and runs in. These are prone to disintegrate (given that they are steel and old) and can jam the window and the door lock. Worth changing the side channels if the window is rattling a bit anyway. These doors are fairly rare now, so if yours are in reasonable condition I'd get a bit of extra paint on the steel bits.

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, the doors are pretty good, and I'm planning to clear waxoyl them inside to keep them that way!

So, enjoying a challenge, I did mange to strip down the indicator switch mechanism and rebuild it. What a faff. Springs and ball bearings and all kinds of stuff flying everywhere. But I did fix it succesfully, and it works fine now!

Fan...actually it was working, but it's seriously asthmatic and rubbish. I know it's not going to be up with modern stuff, but I assume it should give a reasonable flow up over the screen?

Don't bother with sender units etc for the temperature gauge. As someone else said, just get a proper temperature gauge. One that shows temperature readings in degrees Centigrade not oranges and bananas. Furthermore, I have said this before and I'll keep saying it until I'm blue in the face, I was once told (this has not been substantiated by any solid proof) that the original Land Rover temperature gauge sits in the middle at anything between 80 and 110 degrees Centigrade. No wonder all my mates who have standard LR gauges always tell me "nnnaaaaahhhhh mine's always bang in the middle" when I say that mine hits 90 and a bit more on a steep incline in summer (mind you, our summers are scorchers, nothing like British summers)

If you are changing the sender and relying on the standard gauge make sure that it's body is grounded. It shows the correct temp relative to a fixed ground which it normally gets through the body of the gauge

reiny said:

Don't bother with sender units etc for the temperature gauge. As someone else said, just get a proper temperature gauge. One that shows temperature readings in degrees Centigrade not oranges and bananas. Furthermore, I have said this before and I'll keep saying it until I'm blue in the face, I was once told (this has not been substantiated by any solid proof) that the original Land Rover temperature gauge sits in the middle at anything between 80 and 110 degrees Centigrade. No wonder all my mates who have standard LR gauges always tell me "nnnaaaaahhhhh mine's always bang in the middle" when I say that mine hits 90 and a bit more on a steep incline in summer (mind you, our summers are scorchers, nothing like British summers)

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This comes up constantly - the originals are rubbish, and on any old converted landy you have no idea which gauge or sender you have - they need to be matched - and even if they are they are still low quality items - better to invest £30.00 on a mechanical gauge than pay hundreds later saving a cooked engine...................... I also run a mechanical oil pressure gauge for the same reason.

Have tested a few Land rover temp gauges and what you say reiny is all true. In addition on some the difference between the needle entering the white and then going into the red can be as little five degrees or as you say as much as thirty degrees.They were probably ok when new but after years of service most are rubbish. Do as waldamar says and really know what your engine temp is.
Sometimes the problem is the vehicles old wiring loom,so a mechanical [capillary type] gauge is the best answer.

Hmmmm. temp gauge still buried in the red (although the vehicle is clearly fine), however my neighbour is breaking his track day toy and will sell me a very nice SPA combined oil temperature and water temperature gauge. Apparently the sender unit threads are 1/8 NPT.

Does anyone know how to get the senders to fit my engine? It's a 200Tdi from a Disco (not a Defender) and I do know that of the two pitches of thread that LR did on the water temperature sender, it's fine thread, not the coarse thread. Anyone know what this fine thread actually is? This is the Steve Parker part which fits fine but has not cured the iffy readout:
https://www.steveparkers.com/produc...nversion-fine-thread-temp-sender-with-200tdi/
And this is a company which does all the adaptors...I just need to know what to buy!
http://www.speedycables.com/thread_adaptors.html

And what about oil temp? Where do I fit the sender? I've heard it may be on the oil filter housing somewhere...any ideas and again does it need an adaptor?

Thanks in advance!

I think the correct way to do the oil sender would be to fit a tee in the existing sender port and fit both the existing sender and the new sender to that tee.
I have seen a thread somewhere for this exact thing but can't remember where sorry.
Can't help with threads/adaptors either.
If you run a temporary wire( through the window, bonnet up) from the sender to the gauge , disconnect the old one, you can eliminate a shorting wire causing the spoof overheat reading.

I used a remote t piece to mount my oil sender.

I put it up on the bulkhead near the fuel filter to keep it out of harms way.
It slightly weeps but no enough to make it drip

Chances are you have a spare port in your filter housing/head - maybe on the side a bit............. or a t piece is the way to go. Have you got a commercial/diesel specialist in your area? If so those old boys will know exactly what you need - just take your gauges and original senders...................... A tee for oil means you can keep your light as well as use your nice new gauge............. good luck